Come Back To Me
by daisybeth20910
Summary: Melinda comes across the ghost of a fallen police officer. At first it seems like any other crossing over. But soon it becomes clear that Jim and this ghost have more in common that anyone could ever imagine.
1. Chapter 1 The Beginning

_Melinda drove back to the cabin as fast as she could. Her hands were shaking, her mouth was dry, and she could hardly breathe. She needed him to be okay, she needed him to be okay. The tears began to fall as she pulled into the cabin's gravel driveway. _

"_Where's Jim?" she shouted to Detective Neely as she got out of her car. _

"_He's inside, just stay back." He responded, drawing his gun. _

_All of the sudden, a rifle shot broke the silence of the woods, and Melinda's heart stopped. She could see the silhouettes of two men in the door, but it was impossible to tell who was who. Detective Neely aimed his gun slowly, and then shot. For a split second they waited. The wounded figure in the window collapsed to the floor, and now they could see his face. It was Jim. _

"_NO!" Melinda screamed. "JIM!" _

_In a blur, 911 was called, Hunter was arrested, and Jim was sent to the Hospital. Before she could think, Melinda was sitting by Jim's side, waiting in agony for him to wake up, and come back to her. _

"_Please, Jim." She whispered. "Baby, please you have to wake up. I can't do this without you."_

_The tears fell harder now, and soon she was fast asleep, clutching her beloved husbands arm. Later, she became aware through her sleep, that someone was watching her. Slowly she opened her eyes, and Jims face came into view. Relief flooded through her, like rain._

"_You're more beautiful every time I see you." He said. _

"_You're awake." Melinda said, almost too relieved to speak. "I love you."_

_He smiled. " Melinda… something happened. It's called an embolism, it's a technical term- you don't need to know it."_

"_Oh! Let me get you a doctor!"_

"_No, just stay right here, look at me, right at me," he said, pained deeply by something. "I want you to remember me this way, please." _

_Melinda froze. She looked beyond Jims face and saw his body, lying motionless in a hospital bed. Slowly, shakily, she stood. _

"_No." She said strongly. "Not you."_

"_I will always love you Melinda." He said, almost crying. "Always. _

'_Code Blue First Floor, Code Blue First Floor' came over the speakers. Doctors and Nurses rushed into the room. _

"_Not you." Melinda said again, " Please god, not you!" _

_Jim's spirit disappeared, and she was alone. She collapsed into tears and soon the darkness over took her. _

Melinda woke suddenly, jumping up in her bed. She was soaked in sweat and was shaking terribly. And for a horrible, split second in time, the dream felt real, and the heart-ripping, breath-taking grief hit her once more. But before she could let her mind go any further, she heard a familiar, soothing voice, and felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her.

"Shhh, it's okay, it was just a dream." Jim said soothingly, "I'm right here, it's okay."

Her body went weak in his arms, as she felt him all over, to make sure he was really there. Her eyes soon met his, and her breathing began to slow.

"Oh, Jim." She sobbed into his shoulder. She took his face in her hands and kissed him all over, his cheeks, his forehead, his eyelids, his neck and finally, his lips. They just sat there for a moment, cherishing each other in a blissful embrace. Melinda pulled away and pressed her forehead to his, breathing in his scent, thanking anything and everything holy on this earth that the nightmare was over and Jim had come back to her.

"What happened?" He asked softly, cradling her in his arms, after giving her some time to calm down. "Was it a ghost dream?"

She shook her head slowly, and took a deep breath. "No, this was just a regular, horrible, nightmare."

"Oh." Jim said, obviously surprised. It was often that Melinda had a normal dream, whether it be a nightmare or not. "Well, what was it about?"

"I dreamt about…. the night you were shot… the night you died." She said shakily. She felt Jim's arms tense around her. "It was so real, Jim. I felt like it was happening all over again."

Her voice was cracking, and tears were falling. Jim stroked her hair soothingly, kissing her repeatedly on the head. He wiped the tears away, and titled her chin, so she was looking him straight in his piercing blue eyes. She saw so much pain; she knew how hard this must've hit him.

"I am so sorry, Melinda." He said, gritting his teeth against all the anger he had towards himself." I hate that I caused you so much pain. If I could do anything to take that night back… I shouldn't have gone back to the cabin, I should've stayed with you. I.."

The words were too painful to say. Melinda entangled her fingers in his beautiful brown hair, and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. After a few minutes, Melinda pulled away and rested her head on his chest.

"You already took it back," she said kissing his neck, "When you found a way to come back to me. No matter what decisions were made that night, not matter what happened, none of it matters. You're all I need."

"God I love you so much." He said, burying his face in her hair.

"I love you too."

Jim took a deep breath, pecked Melinda once more on the lips and rose from the bed.

"I need a glass of water, can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine," Melinda said, clutching his fingers. "But could you check on Aiden? I want to make sure we didn't wake him."

"Will do." Jim smiled, kissed his wife's fingertips and left the room.

Melinda sighed, content, and snuggled back down into the covers. Suddenly she heard an unfamiliar voice from the corner of her bedroom. A man's voice.

"You need to help her." He said.

Melinda jumped up, and turned to see a man, mid to late twenties, standing behind her. He was beat up pretty bad, and he was wearing a police officer uniform.

"Who are you?" Melinda said. "I can help you."

She really needed to come up with some new catch phrases.

"You need to help her!" The man said again, this time angrily.

"Who? Who do I need to help?"

"A woman just like you, who is in pain. Pain, which you specifically, are very familiar with."

"What are you talking about?"

"November 7th." And with that the ghost was gone.

_Right because telling me exactly what it is you want, and making it just a little bit easy for me, just this one time, wouldn't be smart at all, _Melinda thought dryly to herself. Just then she thought of something.

"Hey Jim." she said when he walked back into their room.

"Hey Melinda." he said smiling.

"What's today's date?"

"June 7th, why?"

"A ghost was just here, and when I asked him who he was, all he said was November 7th." She said, giving Jim only the bare essentials at this point.

"Maybe that was the day he died. Did he seem newish to you?"

"Yeah he did actually, but doesn't that seem to easy to you?" Melinda said, stretching out on the bed.

"You have a point there, ghosts have never been too eager to make it easy for you." Jim said, gazing at Melinda with a familiar mix of admiration and concern.

"True." Melinda said, wanting to change the subject. "How was Aiden?"

"Wide awake," said Jim chuckling. "Sorry babe, but I think we're lucky he isn't sitting on the front porch suitcase in hand, ready to go."

Melinda giggled. Delia, her son Ned, and her new fiancé Richard, were going to Disney World for a week and had asked Melinda and family to join them. Neither Melinda nor Jim could take off work, but they didn't want Aiden to miss out. So they had given Aiden permission to accompany Melinda's long time best friend and her family. They were coming to get him the next morning at 7 am. Aiden had spent the last two weeks packing and going on and on about all of the rides he was going to go on, and all the characters he was going to meet, so it was no surprise to Melinda that he was wide awake.

"It's going to be so weird not having him around for a week." Said Jim climbing back into bed.

"Tell me about it. Delia's cell phone bill is going to skyrocket over the next week." Melinda said laughing.

"Yeah I'm gonna miss him like crazy," Jim said. He then started to kiss Melinda's neck and run his hands up and down her back, causing her to shiver. "But at least we'll have a chance to spend some time together."

Melinda smiled and kissed her husband in agreement.

The next morning after kissing her son goodbye about a thousand times, and making him repeat all of the emergency numbers, Melinda sat at he kitchen table sipping coffee, preparing to go to work. Jim came down the stairs, looking unbelievably delicious in his scrubs.

"I'm off at 6 today, so I should be home by 630 or 7." Jim said pouring coffee into his thermos.

"Sounds good." Melinda said, flashing him a warm smile. "I'll probably beat you home."

"Is that a bet?" Jim said coming up behind her, and grabbing her playfully.

"You're on." Melinda said giggling. "Loser cooks dinner tonight."

"Oh, I so hope you loose, it's been a while since we've ordered out."

Melinda smacked him on the arm before getting up, pecking him on the lips, and heading out the door.

"Have a great day, see you when you get home." She said.

"I'll be waiting."

"Like hell!" Melinda said laughing, "I love you."

"I love you too."

Later that day, when there was a lull at the store, Melinda got on her laptop and tried to do some research. She did a search on fallen police officers in Grandview and surrounding areas, who had died on or around November 7th. She got several hits, but none of the officers looked anything like her ghost. Soon she got the idea to search for fallen police officers in Grandview, without giving a specific date. Finally she found her ghost.

_Sergeant Aaron Thompson, 29, was shot and killed while on duty last night at 10:45 PM. Thompson was responding to an anonymous tip at a privately owned cabin off of Sandy Ford Road. The shooter was identified as Terrance Williams, son of the owners of the farm. The family has yet to comment. Thompson is preceded in death by his father George Thompson. Thompson is survived by his wife Kathryn, 28. Memorial services will be held this Friday June 9th at 10 am at Wells Funeral Home. _

Melinda sat back in her chair in thought. Could his wife be the person he wanted Melinda to help? Possibly. She couldn't think about this now though, customers had begun trickling into the store. She closed up at 6 and was home by 630. She had just gotten out of the shower when Jim got home at 7.

"Nice of you to join me, Dr. Clancy." Melinda said seductively at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, I lost on purpose! Really, it's quite difficult to be fashionably late." He said, throwing his things on the floor, dashing up the stairs and scooping Melinda up in his arms. Jim carried her to there bedroom, and laid her tenderly on the bed. Later, it occurred to them that neither of them, win or loose, had bothered to make dinner. Not wanting to leave their own little heaven quite yet, they called an ordered a pizza. They ate in bed, much to Melinda's dismay, and after they were full, they spent the next few, blissful hours making love.

"So what's the deal with the latest ghost?" Jim asked, hours later.

Melinda smiled. What other man would ask about ghost's right after sex?

"His name is Aaron Thompson, age 29, Grandview police officer, shot and killed in the line of duty, survived by wife Kathryn."

"Woah! Thats a new record for our nifty little ghost busting team." Jim said, chuckling and wide eyed. "What does he want?"

"I'm pretty sure he wants me to go talk to his wife, and get through her grieving." Melinda said. "You know... 'cause I've been there."

Jim smiled crookedly, "I think you skipped the last few chapters though babe. Since I'm still with you, and I'm not going anywhere."

Melina wrapped her arms around Jim's neck. "You better not." She said, taking a few seconds to just appreciate him being there. "But at least I can tell her that her husband is still here and that he loves her and that he'll be at peace and all that fun stuff. In and out, end of story."

"Famous last words." Jim said with a smirk.

"Trust me it will be easy!"

Which of course meant that no, it was not going to be easy. It was going to be hard. Very, very hard.

"If you say so."

Melinda didn't have time to reply, because right then Jim silenced her in a kiss so passionate and intense, she lost all train of thought. Later, as Jim lay beside her asleep, Melinda caught herself gazing at her husband, completely and totally in love with him. She thought back to the day's right after the shooting, when Jim was dead and she thought she had lost him forever. It was the worst time in her life. She had seen tons of people grieve their loved ones, and eventually move on. But Melinda wasn't sure she could have let Jim go. Even though she told him, begged him even, to go into the light, the mere thought of living without him for a day killed her. Jim must've known this, because he never left her, not once.

She continued to watch him, completely intoxicated by his presence even as he slept. She watched the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. She lightly drew her fingertips up and down his cheek, admiring his handsome face. She had been married to this man for almost ten years, they had been to hell and back together, yet to this day every time she saw him, every time he smiled at her, her knees went weak. Melinda sat there and thought back on all the times Jim had been there for here. All the times he had comforted her, held her, dried her tears. He was her whole life, along with their son Aiden.

However, couldn't help but feel a little guilty. She had come across several wives loose their husbands and hit that rock bottom of grief that Melinda called home in the days after Jim's death. But unlike them, Melinda's husband came back to her. She never had to let go of Jim, he wouldn't let her. All of the other husbands that passed before their time, took their place in the light leaving their grieving wives behind, not knowing there was a way to come back to them. Melinda was sure that if they had known there was a way, all those men would have at least tried. "Insider Information" as Jim called it.

Melinda wouldn't recommend the whole body jumping thing to anyone. Not that she wasn't completely grateful to have Jim back in her life, because she was so unbelievably grateful. Its just, to look at the love of your life and them look back at you and have no idea who you are... is one of the most painful things a person can experience. She looked back at her husband's sleeping face, thought again back to the days following his death and decided that she had known worse pain.

Through with all the dark thoughts, Melinda got up and headed over to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she stepped into the bathroom, she found herself emerged in a vision. She saw herself getting out of the car, and shortly she saw Detective Neely. The rifle shot soon sounded, followed by the shot from Neely's gun, the shot that brought her world crashing down. Melinda was now seeing this horrific scene in a new perspective because it was a vision. Once the vision was over, she asked herself why a ghost was sending her a vision of her husband's death, something that Melinda herself had already witnessed.

Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. _Oh my god. _


	2. Chapter 2 THE CABIN

Melinda ran to her laptop, and pulled up Aaron Thompson's obituary once more. After confirming her suspicions, she sat there, staring at the screen to stunned to move.

Not wanting to upset Jim, she elected not to tell him all the gory details on this ghost just yet. So the next morning she kissed Jim goodbye as he left for work, and called Delia to check on Aiden. Then, instead of heading straight to the store, she headed over to Rockland University to pay a visit to her good friend Eli, also a whisperer to ghosts.

"So," Eli said, after Melinda had made herself comfortable on the leather couch in his office, "I'm guessing you didn't bring your cute little self all the way over here, just to say hi."

"No, not today I'm afraid." Melinda said laughing, "Today I'm here on official ghost business."

"Nuh-uh! Geez Melinda enough surprises for one day."

Melinda laughed half-heartedly and stared out the window.

Noticing his friends unusual Distance Eli went and sat in the chair across from her.

"Wow, this must be a tough one."

"You have no idea." Melinda said.

"Alright," said Eli, leaning back in his chair. "Lay it on me."

Melinda took a deep breath. "Okay well it all started with a dream."

"Shocker."

"Shut up Eli." Melinda said, trying to be serious. "Anyway the dream was about the night Jim was shot and killed. Later the ghost showed up and said I needed to help her and when I asked what he was talking about he said, 'She is in pain that you are all to familiar with' or something to that effect. Then he said November 7th and left."

"Well he sounds delightful," Eli said, taking it all in. "Any idea who he is?"

"Actually, yes." Melinda said, rising from her chair and walking over to Eli's computer. She quickly pulled up Aaron's obituary, and moved so Eli could read it.

"Wow," he said. "A fallen cop. So obviously it's his wife he wants you to help. Did you really need to come all the way over here to figure that out?"

Melinda rolled her eyes, "Aren't you just a little but curious about why the ghost told me, November 7th?"

"Maybe that was the day he died?"

"Eli this article was published on June 6th, and it says he was killed the night before."

Now, he was stumped. "Well i'm sure you've already figured it out anyway, so go ahead and tell me."

Melinda drew a deep breath. "November 7th, 2009 was the night that Jim was shot and killed."

Eli's jaw dropped. "What... I don't get it?"

"Neither did I." Melinda said, shoving Eli away from the computer. "Until late last night when I looked a little closer at the article. It had some pictures attached."

Melinda pulled up the most important picture. Eli examined it, showing no signs of understanding why this picture was at all relevant.

"It's the cabin where the officer was shot." Eli said running his fingers through his already chaotic hair." I'm sorry, I am not following you."

"Well, you see the article says that he was shot at a cabin just off of Sandy Ford Road." Said Melinda, looking at the floor, her eyes filling with tears. "The name of the road sounded so familiar and I couldn't out why. Then last night when I was thinking about it I realized…"

"What?"

"Eli that is the exact same cabin where Jim was shot."

**SORRY THIS CHAPTER IS A LOT SHORTER THAN THE LAST ONE. THE NEXT ONE WILL PROBABLY BE LONGER THOUGH :) I WILL UPDATE ASAP. PLEASE LEAVE ME REVIEWS. MY FANS INSPIRE ME :D**

**LOTS OF LOVE,**

DAISY


	3. Chapter 3 Through it all

A silence hung in the air as Eli took in what Melinda had just said.

"And that's not all." Melinda said sitting back down on the couch.

"Of course not." Eli said, taking his place once again across from Melinda.

"The shooter, Terrance Williams."

"What about him?"

"Brother to none other than Hunter Williams." Melinda said wincing as she said the dreadful name.

"And... that would be...?" Eli asked.

"Well, basically the man who killed Jim." Technically, Detective Neely was the one who shot Jim. But Melinda no longer blamed him. He was there to try and save Jim. She placed every last bit of the blame on Hunter.

"Wait," Eli said "I thought you said that um... Trish? Was that her name?"

Melinda nodded.

"Right, well I thought you said that there family owned that cabin?"

'Yeah that's what I thought too, until I figured out that Hunter's family had bought the cabin from Trish's family to avoid being sued."

"Well sounds like that kind of backfired." Eli said." How crazy, I mean first one son kills a paramedic, so they buy the cabin to keep it on the hush-hush, and then the other son turns around and kills a cop. At the exact same cabin!"

"Eli!" Melinda said, frustrated. "Are you not finding this, just a little bit weird?"

"It's just a couple of coincidences." Eli said, going back over to his computer.

"So you're saying that you don't think it's weird that a cop dies at the same cabin where Jim was shot, shot by the brother of the man who killed Jim, and then the cops ghost starts giving me dreams and visions of the night Jim was shot, and all he has to say for himself is November 7th, which just happens to be the date of Jim's death?" Melinda said, exasperated.

Eli shrugged, "When you deal with as many wacko's as I do on a daily basis, nothing really throws you."

Melinda rolled her eyes. "Well I think it's strange."

Eli chuckled and continued to look at his computer screen. "I'm just pulling your leg. I'll admit that this is a little bit stranger than anything else we've ever come across."

Melinda nodded, laughing. "What're you doing?" Melinda said, referring to what he was doing on the computer.

"Imp figuring out where this Kathryn woman lives. That way you can go talk to her."

"Why just me? I thought you liked tagging along."

"Yeah..." Eli said, uneasily." I just think this ghost wants you to talk to her. Sounds like you two have a lot in common."

Melinda smiled softly and felt sudden urge of deep sympathy for Kathryn. They did have a lot in common.

"Alrighty." Eli said jotting the address down on a piece of paper and giving it to Melinda. "Anything else, Mrs. Gordon?"

"Well you know that whole economic downfall thing is kind of annoying. Think you could take care of that for me?" Melinda said jokingly as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"Oh sure, right before my lunch break." Eli said smiling. "See you later."

Later, when Melinda was working at the store, she was surprised by a visit from Avery, a professor at Rockland, and a new friend of Melinda's.

"Avery!" Melinda said, happy to see her.

"Hey Melinda!" said Avery, who was lugging several heavy looking books.

"What's all of this?" Melinda said, admiring them they were probably a hundred years old, and leather-bound. They were gorgeous!

"I found these at a convention I was at last week. The owner was gonna toss them, but I figured I'd bring them to you and see if you could sell them." Avery said, putting the books gently on the counter.

"Are you kidding? They're beautiful. Probably worth a hundred bucks each."

Avery's eyes widen. "Man, if someone had ever told me you could make that much dough selling antiques, I wouldn't have wasted eight years of life learning about horror stories."

Melinda laughed, "I'll figure out how much they're worth, and give you a call."

"Sounds good to me," Avery said, "So how's the ghost busting going?"

"Why does everyone call it that?" Melinda said laughing, carrying the books to the back room. Avery followed her.

"You got a better name?"

Melinda thought about it for a minute. "No, actually ghost busting works."

"So...?" Avery asked anxiously.

"Well there is this one ghost I'm dealing with right now..." Melinda said, wondering if she should tell Avery. That would require Melinda to tell her everything. Everything about Jim and Sam and Hunter and the cabin. Melinda turned to look at Avery and saw someone willing to listen. Someone who wasn't as eccentric as Eli, and not as partial to her protection as Jim. And with Delia away... Avery was really all she had. Plus, Melinda could see herself being good friends with Avery. And suddenly the words just began to pour out.

Melinda told Avery everything. Everything. Not just about Jim and Sam, but everything before that too. She started by telling her about the first ghost after Jim and her got married, to Jims car accident, to Andrea's death and the plane crash, to Paul Eastman and her father, and finally she came to the night Jim died. She watched Avery's eyes widen in amazement as she told her about Jim jumping into Sam's body and losing his memory and the miraculously getting it back. When Melinda was done talking, she found herself with Avery across the street at Village Java. She waited for Avery to say something.

"Wow." She finally said.

"Yeah," Melinda said.

"That was probably the coolest story montage, I have ever seen." Avery said, sitting back in her chair.

"Thanks?"

"I mean just... Ahh!" She yelped, causing Melinda to jump slightly. "All the things you've done, the people you've helped, I just... "

"It's not all it's cracked up to be. Trust me there are a lot more cons that pros."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that it really takes over your life, along with the lives of the people you love" Melinda said thinking of all the drama and damage ghost had caused in the past.

"Tell me about it," Avery said, who had some ghost history herself, "Sounds like that husband of yours has really taken a beating over the years."

Melinda nodded solemnly at this. Out of all of the people in her life, Jim had suffered the most because of ghosts. Yet he never complained, much, and he was always there for her when she needed him. And as Melinda sat there, drinking coffee with Avery she had a sudden chilling thought. For the first time in her marriage to Jim she began to question, how much more he would take.

When Melinda got home that night, Jim was already there cooking dinner. He came to the door, and kissed her sweetly.

"Hey gorgeous." He said handing her a glass of wine. "How was your day?"

"What? Oh yeah it was good. Busy." She said absentmindedly. She didn't want to tell Jim anything, not yet. She didn't want to burden him.

"Babe, what's wrong?" He said. They went and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Nothing." She said, looking away. She wasn't gonna tell him. No matter what. No way.

"Melinda..." He said. And then he was looking at her, piercing her with those blue eyes that took her breath away everyday. After that she lost all train of thought. All she saw, all she heard, all she felt, was him. He began to stroke her cheek, and Melinda found herself leaning into his touch. He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers one by one before saying, "You can tell me anything."

And with that Melinda gave in, and told him everything she had learned about Aaron Thompson, all the similarities she had discovered. He listened intently, holding her hand. Finally when she was done, he got up to check on their dinner.

"Jim," she said, "Are you... I mean... do you..."

"What is it Melinda?" he said gently.

"Are you sure that being with me is worth going thought all of this, on a daily basis?"

This took him off guard. "Of course not," he said walking back over too her kneeling in front of her. "Honey, what would make you say that?"

"Well it's just you deal with so much, and I just wish that I could give you a normal life," she said, her hands fidgeting. "One where we can take weekends away and have uninterrupted evenings. You shouldn't have to be married to someone, who causes you this much worry, and chaos."

"Melinda..." He said sitting in the chair across from her, and drawing her into his lap. "Did I ever tell you about the first time, that I realized I was in love with you?"

Melinda shook her head, leaning into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, and began to rock them both back and forth.

"It was on our first real date," He said. "We had just left the restaurant, and stopped for ice cream before walking back to your apartment. It was some sort of rainbow concoction, sherbert, I believe, anyway you got it all over your face and on your nose. And when I showed you your reflection in a shop window, I expected you to run into the bathroom, freak out and wash it off, because any other girl would have. But instead, you threw your head back and laughed. And I thought to myself, now that is a sound I could live with, for the rest of my life."

Melinda was crying now, unable to speak.

"I fell in love with you because you were different, and quirky. Ghosts or no ghosts, everyday with you is an adventure. Sure, our life together isn't exactly normal, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I just wish I could give you as much as you give me."

Melinda almost laughed. She couldn't even think of a way to explain to him just how inaccurate that statement was. "Jim..." she said. Then, she kissed him, saying everything she needed to say. She pressed her body against him, and began to nibble his neck and smiled when she felt him shudder. Running her hands along his arms, over his chest, down his back, loving how his skin felt beneath her fingers. This drove him crazy, and she knew it. His kisses became more feverant and slowly he stood, carrying her bridal style up to the bedroom. All Melinda's worries were gone for now. For now, all she saw, all she needed, was Jim.

**Okay well… im a little iffy about this chapter. Please leave me reviews! A lot is about to happen in the next chapter… some big shockers coming up. Any way, yeah reaview. **

**Much love, **

**Daisy.**


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